Increasingly, automobiles and other vehicles are being equipped with user interfaces that enable a driver to interact with one or more vehicular systems. Typically, these user interfaces include an electronic display for rendering graphic, iconic, and/or textual content and an input interface for receiving input from the driver. For example, a vehicle may include a touch-screen display for rendering various graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and other content (e.g., mapping content, video content, etc.) that allow the driver to interact with a vehicular infotainment system. User interfaces such as this enable the driver of a vehicle to perform various functions that enhance the experience of the driver.
One area of concern with such user interfaces is that they have the potential to divert the driver's eyes away from the road for extended periods of time, reducing the driver's ability to control the vehicle or to react to changing road and traffic conditions. To address this issue, some user interfaces are configured to prevent the driver from viewing (e.g., to “lock-out”) certain visually intense or distracting content whenever the vehicle is moving. For example, a user interface may be configured to lock-out an entire menu-based interface while the vehicle is moving because the menu-based interface includes menus and submenus having a large number of categories that have the potential to distract the driver.
One issue with this approach is that some user interface content that has the potential to distract the driver in certain instances may not be distracting under all circumstances. For example, a menu-based interface that includes menus that have the potential to distract the driver may also include menus having relatively few categories that the driver can review quickly without being distracted for an extended period of time. In addition, it may be possible for a driver to interact with appropriately structured content under certain driving conditions (e.g., when the vehicle is moving slowly or when the vehicle is moving at a constant speed on a level road where visibility is high and traffic is light) without adversely affecting the driver's performance. Thus, locking-out user interface content without regard to the structure of the content or to current driving conditions can prevent the driver from performing desired functions while the vehicle is moving, potentially decreasing driver satisfaction with the vehicle.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and method for locking-out user interface content based on attributes related to the structure of the content and attributes related to the vehicle. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.